I've been seeing way too many requests for this with just about every mod possible. Considering the simplicity of this mod, the easiest way to please everyone, is for all of you to know how to accomplish this mod yourself.
BTW, this is for the status bar itself, not pulldown bar or notification background.
What you need:
- Paint.NET software (or any other image editing software that you are already comfortable with, this one seems to be the easiest for setting transparency though.)
- Your framework-res.apk AFTER you have all of your other mods applied to your phone. Otherwise you will have to apply this mod again every time you add or change mods (most likely).
- 7zip
So, you should have your framework-res.apk on your computer and 7zip installed to open the apk. Open up the framework, navigate to /res/drawable-hdpi folder. In that folder, find the file statusbar_background.png. You can either pull that file out to your computer to edit it or open it straight from 7zip (which is the best way to ensure there is no issues when pushing framework back to the phone) but you must have your editing software set as the default to open .png files.
Now once you have that file open in Paint.NET, you will see the image of the status bar as you currently have it. Up on the top toolbar, you should see the option "Layers". Click that then select "Layer properties" at the bottom of the drop-down. At the bottom of the window that pops up, you should see "Opacity" and the number set at 255 with the neighboring slider all the way to the right. I suggest using the slider because as you move it you will see the transparency applied to the bar image, allowing you to slide it around to the desired transparency.
Once you have finished setting your transparency, click the little disk image at the top left to save your changes, close the program out and you should then see a box pop up in 7zip (if you made changes without unpacking the file from 7zip first) asking if you would like to apply changes to file you edited. Say yes, then close 7zip, which may or may not state that changes have been made to the apk and if you'd like to update it, which you would say yes to if it does. If you unpacked the file from 7zip, simply drag and drop the file back into its correct spot, confirm you want to replace the file, then close it up. After all of this is done, just put framework-res.apk back into the framework folder on your phone whatever way you like, turn your phone on and you have a transparent status bar.
As a side note, you can play with Paint.net to see all of the modifications you can make to your status bar like changing colors, texture, and a few other things. One piece of advice is to have a backup framework-res.apk in case you make a mistake or something.
excuse my extreme noobness, but what is the best way to transfer the apk back and forth from the phone to computer? yes I am new to this and yes I am a retard and yes I probably shouldnt even try this..
JoeyBones1 said:
excuse my extreme noobness, but what is the best way to transfer the apk back and forth from the phone to computer? yes I am new to this and yes I am a retard and yes I probably shouldnt even try this..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Easiest way would be to get root explorer so you can navigate to the /system/framework folder and copy the apk from there to your sdcard, where you can just copy it to your computer. the other option would be plugging your phone into your computer, phone should be on, open up command prompt then navigate to your sdk/tools folder (get it if you dont already have it), then type "adb pull /system/framework/framework-res.apk c:\" without the quotes. the file will be in the root of your C directory. To get it back on your phone when finished, for root explorer just reverse the steps, but when moving the apk back to its proper folder, just hit the "Mount R/W" button at the top right of root explorer, copy the file back in and reboot. For alternate method, boot into recovery, mount /system partition, then in prompt after navigating to sdk tools folder type "adb push c:\insertdirectoryto\framework-res.apk /system/framework/" without quotes, then boot up and youre done.
tried this...boot looped...had to restore backup...thanks for the info though...might try again soon
BillytheKid82 said:
tried this...boot looped...had to restore backup...thanks for the info though...might try again soon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try editing the file without extracting it or did you extract it and reinsert it?
Or you could edit the .png and use metamorph to push it into the framework-res.apk without moving or unzipping anything. And you could just keep the metamorph theme with that one .png on your sdcard to re-apply it whenever you flash a new rom, without altering any other theme elements you've already applied.
What do I edit to change the pull down notifications?
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
thx a ton got it
transparent, transferring back to phone now..we will see
edit ..boot loops too..
i used root explorer ..extracted framework-res.apk to my sd card ,,then on my computer i opened paint.net and edited the statusbar_background.png file and then
zipped back up the framework-res and renamed to apk then copied back to my framework folder and it the forced closed and went into boot lopes...
i know im close to getting this right ..what step am i skrewing up?
i edited the file w/out extracting it...using root explorer i copied the framework res to my sdcard...plugged my phone in to comp, opened the framework res w/ 7zip, edited w/ gimp, saved all changes...unmounted phone, used root explorer and copied the new edited framework, then navigated to the original framework res and pasted the new one there to overwrite the original...then it force closed so i tried to paste it again, then the phone rebooted and boot looped? not sure if i did something wrong
Gahh Its Lee said:
What do I edit to change the pull down notifications?
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That file is a .9.png file. editing these is ridiculously difficult and ill-advised.
chrisloveskaos said:
thx a ton got it
transparent, transferring back to phone now..we will see
edit ..boot loops too..
i used root explorer ..extracted framework-res.apk to my sd card ,,then on my computer i opened paint.net and edited the statusbar_background.png file and then
zipped back up the framework-res and renamed to apk then copied back to my framework folder and it the forced closed and went into boot lopes...
i know im close to getting this right ..what step am i skrewing up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BillytheKid82 said:
i edited the file w/out extracting it...using root explorer i copied the framework res to my sdcard...plugged my phone in to comp, opened the framework res w/ 7zip, edited w/ gimp, saved all changes...unmounted phone, used root explorer and copied the new edited framework, then navigated to the original framework res and pasted the new one there to overwrite the original...then it force closed so i tried to paste it again, then the phone rebooted and boot looped? not sure if i did something wrong
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I JUST remembered that I think you need to be running a deodexed rom to allow modifications. I've always used deodexed roms and forgot that it might be a requirement for things like this. Do either of you know if what youre running is deodexed or not?
mixedlemon said:
Or you could edit the .png and use metamorph to push it into the framework-res.apk without moving or unzipping anything. And you could just keep the metamorph theme with that one .png on your sdcard to re-apply it whenever you flash a new rom, without altering any other theme elements you've already applied.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
metamorph is definitely more useful. I just have never created anything to run with it so I don't know the process of doing so.
im running skyraider vanilla, i tried to look on the thread to see if it is deodexed and i couldn't find if it is or not...may not be...thanks for your help
mb02 said:
I JUST remembered that I think you need to be running a deodexed rom to allow modifications. I've always used deodexed roms and forgot that it might be a requirement for things like this. Do either of you know if what youre running is deodexed or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
running new skyraider 3.3 and im sure it is
Yea it seems they are both deodexed, and btw I didn't know skyraider 3.3 was so awesome I'm tempted to switch over to it. But yea, I'm not sure why your phones aren't allowing the modifications to the framework. I might as well load SR 3.3 and see for myself what's up. I'll get on that later tonight when I have time and let you guys know if i figure anything out.
Use this with metamorph. It will work on any rom (tested on skyraider 3.3) except those that still use the "drawable-hdpi-v4" folder in the framework-res.apk. If your rom uses that folder, simply rename the folder it puts on your sdcard in /sdcard/AndroidThemes/HalfTransparentBar/
If you'd rather have a different transparency just replace the .png in the folder with yours.
In fact, if you want to edit ANY graphic on your rom, just put the .png in the /sdcard/AndroidThemes/xxxxxx/framework-res/res/drawable-hdpi/ folder with the same file name as the one you want to replace. And of course, do a nandroid backup just in case.
EDIT: As Berzerker7 pointed out, this file probably wont make anything transparent unless you have a modified services.jar. oops.
mixedlemon said:
Use this with metamorph. It will work on any rom (tested on skyraider 3.3) except those that still use the "drawable-hdpi-v4" folder in the framework-res.apk. If your rom uses that folder, simply rename the folder it puts on your sdcard in /sdcard/AndroidThemes/HalfTransparentBar/
If you'd rather have a different transparency just replace the .png in the folder with yours.
In fact, if you want to edit ANY graphic on your rom, just put the .png in the /sdcard/AndroidThemes/xxxxxx/framework-res/res/drawable-hdpi/ folder with the same file name as the one you want to replace.
edit: and of course, do a nandroid backup just in case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well then that simplifies a lot of things lol. Thanks for putting that up for us, makes everything even easier.
Simply swapping a file won't work. It's the same reason simply swapping a transparent image for the notification pull-down doesn't work. Opacity is controlled on another level by services.jar. You need to modify the values there, as well as swapping out for a transparent image.
Btw, this didn't work for me on SkyRaider 3.3. (Metamorph or swapping the file).
It makes the background black but not transparent on virtuous 3.0.1
mixedlemon said:
Use this with metamorph. It will work on any rom (tested on skyraider 3.3) except those that still use the "drawable-hdpi-v4" folder in the framework-res.apk. If your rom uses that folder, simply rename the folder it puts on your sdcard in /sdcard/AndroidThemes/HalfTransparentBar/
If you'd rather have a different transparency just replace the .png in the folder with yours.
In fact, if you want to edit ANY graphic on your rom, just put the .png in the /sdcard/AndroidThemes/xxxxxx/framework-res/res/drawable-hdpi/ folder with the same file name as the one you want to replace.
edit: and of course, do a nandroid backup just in case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Berzerker7 said:
Simply swapping a file won't work. It's the same reason simply swapping a transparent image for the notification pull-down doesn't work. Opacity is controlled on another level by services.jar. You need to modify the values there, as well as swapping out for a transparent image.
Btw, this didn't work for me on SkyRaider 3.3. (Metamorph or swapping the file).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, I must have already installed a theme that modified it, then.
WOOOT!
SO can't wait to try this!
Wow... epic fail on my part... edited the image, repackaged, compared to original, file sizes/compression were similar enough, so I copied it onto my SD card and went in to Root Explorer... Mistake number 1)forgot to do a nandroid OR a titanium, Mistake number 2)Renamed the framework-res.apk to framework-res.bak BEFORE I copied the new file to the /system/framework. As soon as I did that, everything went haywire so I did a battery pull and went to do it the ADB way from recovery. Thought I did that right, so I rebooted into a bootloop... Finally gave up so I decided to do mistake number 3)full nandroid restore of a backup that was admittedly a few days old (See mistake 1 lol) after which I had rearranged a few things and added more apps etc... Now on to the important stuff...
MAKE SURE YOU DO STEP 1 BEFORE ATTEMPTING ANY OF THIS AND IF YOU RUN INTO PROBLEMS, DO STEP 2 SO YOU DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID!
Step 1)For the love of all that's holy, do a Nandroid and Titanium backup first!
Step 2)In Clockwork Mod Recovery, do NOT do a full restore, instead go to advanced restore and simply restore the system (the part that you were messing around with to do this mod lol I realized this gem just as I clicked "Yes" in CWM, I still have the palm print on my forehead... haha
Hopefully you folks will have better luck than I did, but if not, hopefully I can save you some of the headache I went thru...
It's not much, but I thought everyone should be able to theme their Framework
Requirements: WinZip(or any other zipping program), Android SDK, testsign, some graphics editor...
NOTE: This will work with theme apk's as well !!!
So what you need to start with is your framework files:
framework-res.apk, com.htc.resources.apk ... both are located in SYSTEM:framework/
These files are just renamed zip files, so rename them back to .zip and extract them (you can also edit them inside WINRAR or something, but it is more comfortable if you extract them)
In these, images are usually saved in res/drawable-mdpi or such, but you have to think here, allways modify all files from one resource
Now locate the images you want to edit but I only know how to edit .png files (.9.png files are for a different howto, probably not by me as I've never really mastered it)
Pick those you want to edit, and edit them (I'm not gonna tell you how here, I usually use photoshop to do that )
Once you have edited those images, it is recomended to optimize those png's (Firstly to make them smaller, but more importantly, most of the times the png's from Windows graphics editor didn't work for me...)
To optimize png's you can use:
OptiPNG: DOWNLOAD This one is drag'n'drop batch conversion capable...
Pngcrush: DOWNLOAD Command line utility, but it has more settings
...or something else, but I find these two the best
Once you have these optimized, copy and re-write them to folders you took them from to edit...
Now you need to zip these back, for framework files I was told it is usual to zip them as "store", but correct me someone if I'm wrong.
After you have zipped those, they will have to be re-signed. To do this, use testsign from code.google.com
Then run this in cmd line (or create a .bat file as I did, it's much easier):
Code:
java -classpath testsign.jar testsign [COLOR="DarkRed"]file.zip[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkRed"]file-signed.zip[/COLOR]
Now that you have signed it, it is recomended to zipalign it:
(zipalign.exe is located in /tools in your SDK)
Run this in cmd line:
Code:
zipalign 4 [COLOR="DarkRed"]infile.zip[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkRed"]outfile.zip[/COLOR]
(4 is alignment in bytes)
Now that you have aligned the .zip, rename it to the original name and then you just need to push it back to your phone:
Code:
adb shell mount /system
adb push [COLOR="DarkRed"]com.htc.resources.apk[/COLOR] /system/framework/[COLOR="DarkRed"]com.htc.resources.apk[/COLOR]
or
adb push [COLOR="DarkRed"]framework-res.apk[/COLOR] /system/framework/[COLOR="DarkRed"]framework-res.apk[/COLOR]
And you're done
I hope this helps someone! Enjoy!
note: This way you should be able to modify any apk I think
Very good.
Good initiative, thank you.
Lets hope that others will follow your example and contribute in this community,we need it.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App
One question... can i change the framework if i'm s-on? And if yes how? flash it through recovery or how?
LE: Thx for the info. I found out how to edit themes... i will create a cool one to upload here. I could edit the framework.....but i am s-on so no use for that.
Unfortunately, when you're unrooted, you can't push files to your system...
But this will work for those Theme apk's too... so grab a theme you like and you can edit it as easily as you would your framework It has a limited potential, but it's something for you S-ON users
Hmm, I skipped the push part and copied the file back over the one in the phone. Now my phone is stuck in a continuous loop on the "quietly brilliant" screen.
Any help? Where do I get a stock rom to flash?
rogbese said:
Hmm, I skipped the push part and copied the file back over the one in the phone. Now my phone is stuck in a continuous loop on the "quietly brilliant" screen.
Any help? Where do I get a stock rom to flash?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just enter recovery & factory reset,wipe, then wipe dev cache, then reflash your rom that you were using before the bootloop.
You can even swap icons in the framework of your rom then just flash (if you try to swap framework.apks or dialer.apks using a file manager you will delete or swap the file but this will cause loads or errors & force closes & then result in your bootloop!) Then just swap via a computer within the zip file then just flash in recovery as normal & if done right you wont get bootloops
Hi guys.
I am trying to change a complete look of a mod, call it theming.
By doing this I edited framework-res.apk successfully by using apk manager.
Now I changed some png from res/drawable-ldpi and zipped the apk (left it unsigned) and pushed it to the dev. wiped dalvik and reboot.
No Statusbar there.
How do I get the SystemUI WITH my changes together, that it will run perfectly again?
-----------
Is there no one who can be of help?
Now I tried APKtool. same.
I do following:
1. I save METAINF folder for later
2. open commandline and enter: apktool d SystemUI.apk
3. I put the images into the folder, generated by apktool, to the right place
4. I enter apktool b SystemUI SystemUIChanged.apk
5. I open SystemUIChanged.apk in 7zip, put the saved before METAINF folder into it.
6. I start phone into recovery, mount system folder and enter on pc in commandline: adb push SystemUIChange.apk /system/app/SystemUI.apk
7. I wipe Dalvik and restart phone.
8. Statusbar still not there
please help someone
i was able to do this successfully in creeds ROM 1.7
do not change the .9 pngs using normal editors...
go here to see how : http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/draw9patch.html
if u just want to change the other pngs then just use 7zip.
unzip it then make all changes and replace the files into the 7zip.
if u want to change the xml files and stuff then u need to decompile using apk manager.
then i just flash it using cwm recovery.
hope i helped
psyche.11 said:
i was able to do this successfully in creeds ROM 1.7
do not change the .9 pngs using normal editors...
go here to see how : http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/draw9patch.html
if u just want to change the other pngs then just use 7zip.
unzip it then make all changes and replace the files into the 7zip.
if u want to change the xml files and stuff then u need to decompile using apk manager.
then i just flash it using cwm recovery.
hope i helped
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that helped ... it wasn´t the png9s, just usual pngs.
I used 7zip, but it didn´t function.
but after 2nd reboot it work.
so it worked? status bar fine?
I am trying to change an image in the com.htc.resource.apk, I do it just like framework-res.apk from this guild
HTML:
http://www.incredibleforum.com/forum/htc-incredible-themes/6020-%5Btutorial%5D-how-make-themes.html
However when I flash it, the OS boot loops, I wipe the data/cache before and after I flash the resource.apk. I am trying to change the default phone status bars to a black square(so it doesn't appear on the bar). Can anyone help me with this task?
P.S. I have tried goggled this topic but it routes me to framework-res.apk(which work great).
ravenboilinux said:
I am trying to change an image in the com.htc.resource.apk, I do it just like framework-res.apk from this guild
HTML:
http://www.incredibleforum.com/forum/htc-incredible-themes/6020-%5Btutorial%5D-how-make-themes.html
However when I flash it, the OS boot loops, I wipe the data/cache before and after I flash the resource.apk. I am trying to change the default phone status bars to a black square(so it doesn't appear on the bar). Can anyone help me with this task?
P.S. I have tried goggled this topic but it routes me to framework-res.apk(which work great).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use 7zip instead of winzip or winrar. Note that some image files are not editable, i think they call then 9jpes or something. Should be as simple as pulling the apk from your current rom, opening the apk with 7zip drag the images you want to edit out, edit them, then drag and drop them back in. Make sure to ok 7zip to update the files once you drop them back in. Then push the apk back to the phone while in recovery.
How do you do push them back from recovery?
ravenboilinux said:
How do you do push them back from recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using adb. " adb push filename.apk /system/framework "
So here I have noticed issue with using vrtheme on new 4.3 MJ2 and seeking some Linux expert help to solve it.
work around
Simply using vrtheme causing FCs, SO i have changes the destination to see outcome file structure.
-All changes we have applied through vrtheme applied to output file. but icons get changed to android icon.
-Now if you move that output file to other destination using root explorer then also it regenerates original icons and we can use as final apk ready to push to System/app
-Again if we giving same command through recovery, it doesn't works
-Also copying with terminal emulator with cat command, it regenerates original structure. again same command using recovery fails to do it.
May be recovery issue??
here is log cat along with used vrtheme script.
dr.ketan said:
So here I have noticed issue with using vrtheme on new 4.3 MJ2 and seeking some Linux expert help to solve it.
work around
Simply using vrtheme causing FCs, SO i have changes the destination to see outcome file structure.
-All changes we have applied through vrtheme applied to output file. but icons get changed to android icon.
-Now if you move that output file to other destination using root explorer then also it regenerates original icons and we can use as final apk ready to push to System/app
-Again if we giving same command through recovery, it doesn't works
-Also copying with terminal emulator with cat command, it regenerates original structure. again same command using recovery fails to do it.
May be recovery issue??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
doc, am not a linux expert, but i tried to inject your black aosp vrtheme files into the apk and flash them from cwm, it kills the wifi and have to wipe and reflash the whole rom. so, perhaps you want to put more attention to it.
waiting for your aosp theme and thanks a lot.
Wifi issue will be solved by reflashing recovery
I can show you temporary solution.
Just change path of pushing files to other from System/app then 1. you want get FCc bcoz it is not in system/app
2. Now from where you have defined destination from there move to some pther place with root explorer, now you will be able to see icons, once icons are correct you can pust to system/app.
dr.ketan said:
Wifi issue will be solved by reflashing recovery
I can show you temporary solution.
Just change path of pushing files to other from System/app then 1. you want get FCc bcoz it is not in system/app
2. Now from where you have defined destination from there move to some pther place with root explorer, now you will be able to see icons, once icons are correct you can pust to system/app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry doc, but i cannot understand what you mean.
do you mean i should change the flashing path (in the script)? or do you mean i should copy the apks manually into the system/app by root explorer? if you mean the later, i can do, but the first one i don't.
i can see all the icons, just the wifi would not start after i flashed the modified apks through cwm flash. what do you mean by reflashing recovery?
Ok making clear again who want to use vrtheme
1.Change path in vrtheme installertheme.sh from system/app to other (e.g. just system)
2.Now when you flash vrtheme, you won't see any changes in system bcoz all apps will be in system and not in System/app.
3. Manually cut all app with root explorer from system to SDcard
4. Now you can see correct icons of all appl after moving to sdcard.
5.Now move those apk to system/app OR System/framework, where it should be.
6.Enjoy all the changes now in system
7.By this process you will lose wifi and you have to reflash recovery to get it back.
PS : For AOSP for MJ2 I have made it with same method above and uploading, Once uploaded will post to MJ2 thread, you have to simply flash that file. without doing anything above.
dr.ketan said:
Ok making clear again who want to use vrtheme
1.Change path in vrtheme installertheme.sh from system/app to other (e.g. just system)
2.Now when you flash vrtheme, you won't see any changes in system bcoz all apps will be in system and not in System/app.
3. Manually cut all app with root explorer from system to SDcard
4. Now you can see correct icons of all appl after moving to sdcard.
5.Now move those apk to system/app OR System/framework, where it should be.
6.Enjoy all the changes now in system
7.By this process you will lose wifi and you have to reflash recovery to get it back.
PS : For AOSP for MJ2 I have made it with same method above and uploading, Once uploaded will post to MJ2 thread, you have to simply flash that file. without doing anything above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will just wait for your file then. dont want to mess my setup again. spent too much time experimenting with it today. lucky it's saturday in my country...
ok then wait 10 min.
EDIT : AOSP theme for MJ2 ROM Posted to MJ2 thread post#2
Doc.
I just came across thia issue thread discussion.
Surprised to see vrtheme issues.
I think it is worth trying morphing instead of vrtheme.
If it fails, then it is not a recovery issue..m
It might be android 4.3 security files that I noticed in /system...
I will dig in further and check...
Thx for sharing this discussion thread. :thumbup:
wesamothman said:
Doc.
I just came across thia issue thread discussion.
Surprised to see vrtheme issues.
I think it is worth trying morphing instead of vrtheme.
If it fails, then it is not a recovery issue..m
It might be android 4.3 security files that I noticed in /system...
I will dig in further and check...
Thx for sharing this discussion thread. :thumbup:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Already fixed that (at least in my MJ2 rom)
vrtheme works perfect on framework-res.apk and secsettings.apk